Oct 31, 2006 — The construction boom around Fort Drum has military planners worried about keeping open space for the base itself. Earlier this month, Army officials met with agriculture and conservation groups, like the Farm Bureau, Ducks Unlimited and the Nature Conservancy, as well as the DEC, about buying development easements around the Fort Drum reservation. The program could include hundreds of acres in Jefferson, St. Lawrence, and Lewis counties. David Cutter is Fort Drum's community planner. He told David Sommerstein the protected land would create a buffer between training activities and the base's neighbors.